GHOST REVERIES

Talking about Opeth is talking about constant evolution. Yes, it's true; they have been faithful to their primary style, which is of course, Death Metal soaked with tech/progressive structures and sounds. But it was the thirst of new sounds that led these Swedish guys to hire Steven Wilson as a producer and recorded 3 albums with him: "Blackwater Park", "Deliverance" and "Damnation", this last one released on 2003. Even though, Opeth had a very distinctive style by then, they needed to move on, so they could really take off. And I think they finally did it with "Ghost Reveries".

After that, once again they entered the studio, this time Jens Bogren was the man in charge of the recording sessions. So, why did I even mention Steven Wilson? 'Cause he marked some kind of an Era. 'Cause the Opeth/Wilson formula worked both ways. It did affected Wilson's further works with Porcupine Tree, as he adopted a heavier sound, not as heavy as Opeth, but heavy indeed; and it also affected the last 2 Opeth releases: this one and their last one, "Watershed". They both fed back from each other in a very positive way.

The thing that made this album so special was the balance of subtlety and aggressiveness. Through the whole album we can sense the powerful Heavy Metal riffs penetrating our ears and right after, an acoustic passage or a keyboard break join the blend to make it a tasty experience; finding in "Ghost of Perdition" one of their career's peak. We can also remark the powerful "Baying of the Hounds" chaining itself with softer pieces like the beautiful "Hours of Wealth", "Isolation Years" or "Atonement", where we can notice the Camelian influence, which gets a little stronger on "Watershed".

My rating: 4 Stars. 4 ½ Stars really.

Reason of my rating:

I really see Opeth as one of today's headliners of the Progressive Metal Scene, also one of the innovators in the specific terms of the Tech/Extreme Prog Metal. They found on this album their real own style, where they can move on any direction they want. Why not 5 Stars? I know this is only the beginning; they've got a lot of cool thing coming.